Colleges reconsider support for Sandusky-backed charity

A number of local colleges are reconsidering their support for The Second Mile, a beleaguered charity founded by disgraced Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky and swept into turmoil following his arrest.

Millersville University and Lock Haven University are discussing their students' involvement with the group. Millersville's president will meet with his Cabinet on Tuesday on whether to continue working with the charity.

"We're doing a total review of it," university spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said. "There's so many allegations out there right now. We need to protect both the students and the children who are affiliated with it."

About 50 Allentown-area kids participate in the Muhlenberg-Cedar Crest program at Muhlenberg's campus. Neither college has announced changes to the program, though Muhlenberg students have been told to come early to their next meeting to discuss "logistical changes," organizers said.

Sandusky, who has been charged with molesting eight children over 15 years, founded The Second Mile in 1977. Authorities say he used his influence in the charity to lure boys, promising them gifts, before assaulting them in his home and at Penn State football facilities, among other places.

His arrest Nov. 5 later prompted the firing of Penn State head coach Joe Paterno and forced the resignation of university President Graham Spanier. Sandusky has said he is innocent.

Because of the scandal, The Second Mile says it is considering three options: shutting down, restructuring or transferring responsibilities to other charities.

Centre County judges recuse themselves

To avoid accusations of bias, every trial judge in Centre County has recused himself from hearing the Sandusky case, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said Tuesday.

McKean County Senior Judge John M. Cleland will preside over the case. First taking the bench in 1984, Cleland has sat on the state Superior Court and was chairman of a commission on juvenile justice. He has no known connections to Sandusky, Penn State or The Second Mile, state officials said.

Conflicts of interest are a sore subject in State College. District Judge Leslie Dutchcot, who previously volunteered with The Second Mile, was criticized for not recusing herself at Sandusky's Nov. 5 arraignment because of her association with the charity.

Dutchcot later handed the reins to Westmoreland County District Judge Robert E. Scott, who will handle Sandusky's preliminary hearing, now set for Dec. 13.

Reports to the state's Child Line hotline doubled in the wake of the Penn State sexual abuse scandal.

In a typical week, the state hotline receives 2,300 calls. Between Nov. 5 and Nov. 11, that number jumped to 4,832 calls, said Anne Bale, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Welfare. Those calls were a mix of new incidents and old, she said.

In the case of new reports, the agency investigates the claims at the county level. Old claims were referred to law enforcement for investigation, Bale said. From Nov. 14 to Friday, the state hotline received 2,866 calls, she said.

"It's important to get people talking about this issue and the Penn State issue has done it," said Bale, who described the uptick in calls to the hotline as a possible "silver lining" to the Sandusky scandal. "It's good that people are talking. But it's also concerning that it's been pent up."

Newspaper: Paterno insisted on handling player infractions

Joe Paterno told Penn State's top disciplinary officer that Paterno, and not the school, "knows best how to discipline his players," according to emails obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

"Coach Paterno would rather we NOT inform the public when a football player is found responsible for committing a serious violation of the law and/or our student code," administrator Vicky Triponey wrote Spanier in 2005, the Journal reported.

Triponey, the former vice president for student affairs at Penn State, left the university in 2007.

Penn State's private investigator worked with Second Mile board member

Louis Freeh, the former FBI director Penn State hired to conduct an internal investigation into the Sandusky scandal, once worked with an executive who had ties to The Second Mile.

Ric Struthers, an executive at credit card company MBNA Corp., sits on the board of The Second Mile and is a major donor to Penn State. Freeh served as the company's general counsel before starting his own consulting firm.

Officials say Freeh did not report to Struthers during their time with the company.

"They were business acquaintances during their respective tenures at MBNA several years ago," trustee spokeswoman Stefanie Goodsell said. "They have not discussed any of the matters related to the investigation."

Report: Sandusky's lawyer fears jail time for his client

Sandusky's attorney, Joseph Amendola, told ABC News on Tuesday his client might have a tough time staying out of jail if new charges are filed.

"My concern is if they bring new charges based upon new people coming forth, that bail's going to be set, and he's going to wind up in jail," he said.